TY - JOUR
AU - Hoxby,Caroline M.
TI - The Economics of Online Postsecondary Education: MOOCs, Nonselective Education, and Highly Selective Education
JF - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL - No. 19816
PY - 2014
Y2 - January 2014
DO - 10.3386/w19816
UR - http://www.nber.org/papers/w19816
L1 - http://www.nber.org/papers/w19816.pdf
N1 - Author contact info:
Caroline M. Hoxby
Department of Economics
Stanford University
Landau Building, 579 Serra Mall
Stanford, CA 94305
Tel: 650-725-8719
Fax: 650-725-5702
E-Mail: choxby@stanford.edu
AB - I consider how online postsecondary education, including massive open online courses (MOOCs), might fit into economically sustainable models of postsecondary education. I contrast nonselective postsecondary education (NSPE)in which institutions sell fairly standardized educational services in return for up-front payments and highly selective postsecondary education (HSPE) in which institutions invest in students in return for repayments much later in life. The analysis suggests that MOOCs will be financially sustainable substitutes for some NSPE, but there are risks even in these situations. The analysis suggests that MOOCs will be financially sustainable substitutes for only a small share of HSPE and are likely to collapse the economic model that allows HSPE institutions to invest in advanced education and research. I outline a non-MOOC model of online education that may allow HSPE institutions both to sustain their distinctive activities and to reach a larger number of students.
ER -